Chapter 8

Magnus had been in New York for just over two weeks and he was starting to get a better feel for the way things ran. He had been on patrol several times and it was a different experience than back home. New York saw more demon activity than Jakarta and Magnus had returned back to the institute covered in demon ichor more times than he cared to remember. He had attended downworld council meetings with Jace a few times and was impressed with how the meeting were run and also how they all worked together to make New York a safer place for everyone. Izzy had shown him around the city, highlighting a few of her favorite spots and showing him where the best shopping was. He was adapting to his new environment, but he was still curious about the corridor with the guards.

In his moments of spare time he had asked around about the corridor. The answers he got were all the same no matter who he talked to. He was told repeatedly that the corridor was out of use due to an incident that had happened several years ago, although no one could remember what the incident was when asked about it. None of them remembered ever seeing guards in the corridor. He also asked as discreetly as he could about the missing Lightwood boy, but no one knew what happened to him. They all thought they had seen him on occasion but couldn't quite remember for sure. To Magnus it almost seemed as if their memories had been tampered with although he couldn't say for sure. He had talked to Clary about it a few times and she was just as stumped as he was. Magnus was starting to think that the eldest Lightwood's disappearance and the unused corridor were connected, but he couldn't quite figure out why. It was more just a feeling that he had than anything.

Magnus figured his next course of action would have to be asking Izzy or Jace about their missing brother. If that didn't work, then he would have to try exploring the corridor on his own. Magnus was going to do everything he could to find answers and solve this mystery. Magnus had talked to Ragnor about it quite a bit and even Ragnor was trying to look for clues on his end but didn't think he would have much luck since he was in London and not New York. Magnus had a few minutes before he needed to meet up with Izzy, so he figured he would message Ragnor to see if he had found anything out.

To Ragnor:

Have you been able to figure anything out about what we talked about?

To Magnus:

I've done some asking of people I know have been in New York over the last few years and they all say the same thing as what you've been hearing.

To Ragnor:

That's interesting, why do you think that is?

To Magnus:

I think it is like you say, there has to be some kind of memory spell in place. It is the only explanation as to why they see the corridor, but they don't see the guards at all.

To Ragnor:

But how would a spell like that work on so many people? It would take a lot for one warlock to be able to cast it and maintain it on everyone in the institute or who comes to visit it.

To Magnus:

Maybe you need to look in the institutes records to see if any warlocks make regular visits aside from Catarina and Tessa. I would think if they are on site, they would easily be able to cast the spell on anyone who is in the institute.

To Ragnor:

That's a great idea, but it might seem strange to Jace if I just ask for the records.

To Magnus:

You should be able to access them from a computer in the ops center. Most records nowadays have a digital file. Also, since you are working closely with Jace and Izzy that may give you access to those files.

To Ragnor:

I'll try that on my next shift in the ops center. I'll let you know what I find out.

To Magnus:

I appreciate it. I'm invested in this now and am curious to see what you find out. Be careful my friend, you don't know what you're messing with.

To Ragnor:

I'll be careful and again I will keep you updated. I should get going, I need to meet with Izzy soon.

To Magnus:

You're welcome and talk to you soon.

Magnus headed to the weapons room to meet up with Izzy. Today she was going to have him help her wit the inventory. Magnus knew that Izzy liked to take inventory weekly just so she always had a good idea of what weapons they had on hand and also if they needed more. He wasn't expecting to see Simon when he got there. Magnus had seen the mundane around a few times since his first encounter. He was usually with Clary, so it was a bit strange seeing him without the redhead. He hadn't realized that Simon was friends with Izzy. It wasn't really hard to see it, since Simon was rarely seen with anyone in the institute besides Clary. As Magnus thought about it, he had seen Simon around quite a bit without Clary or even when Clary was out on a mission or spending time with her mom when she was in New York. Magnus thought it was a bit strange that a mundane would be allowed to wander around the institute unsupervised. He could always ask the other boy what he was doing there but figured it might not be his place to ask.

Magnus entered the room and caught the end of their conversation which didn't make any sense to Magnus. He figured he would just go back to his study area until Izzy was ready for him. He didn't want to interrupt their conversation.

"Hey Magnus, how are you doing?" asked Simon catching the other boy's attention.

"I'm doing good. How about yourself?" Magnus replied as he stopped his movements in front of the two.

"Doing good. Just trying to convince Izzy to go see a movie with me since she missed out last time," Simon explained as he faced Izzy and tried to give her puppy eyes.

"How is that working out for you?" Magnus inquired as he held back a laugh.

"Well it doesn't seem to be working very well since she is always turning me down. But I have hope that one day she will accept my offer," Simon explained sadly.

Magnus looked over at Izzy who just stood there shaking her head and said to Simon, "You may just have to keep trying. You may get lucky and actually succeed one day."

"Well, thank you for that advice and I will keep it in mind for when I try again. Well seeing as you are here, I will take my leave and hope to see you again soon," Simon said tilting an imaginary hat and leaving the weapons room.

Magnus just shook his head as Simon left the room. Had he been paying more attention he would have been able to see Simon head toward the mystery corridor and enter a room. Magnus had instead turned his attention to Isabelle and what she was doing. To him, she seemed a little on edge and he didn't think it had anything to do with Simon asking her out.

"Hey, are you ok?" asked Magnus as he got a little closer to Izzy.

"I'm good, just a little frazzled. My parents are coming in from Idris for a visit. It always gets a little tense when they are here," Izzy replied looking up from her counting.

"Do you not have a good relationship with your parents?" Magnus inquired going to the area where Izzy wanted him to start counting.

"My relationship with them is ok, but they are very particular in how things are done. Jace has made a lot of changes since taking over as head of the institute, but our parents don't always agree with the changes that Jace has made. I know they are older and have a certain way of doing things, but I wish they would understand that things change as the times change," Izzy stated finishing the counting in the area she was in.

"Makes sense. I feel the same way sometimes when I'm around my parents. I want to do my best to make them proud of me and what I am doing but I am also scared that I'm going to mess up and disappoint them. I hope that your parents don't make you feel the same way all the time."

"It has been hard, but I think it has been harder since my brother disappeared. Alec was the oldest and he was being trained and prepared to take over the institute from my parents. Those hopes for him died when he disappeared. To my parents Jace and I have always been the wild ones, even when we were younger. Alec helped control us and helped us to think about the consequences of our actions. We didn't always do that, and Alec was there to at least try to get us to listen to reason."

"This is the first time that you have mentioned an older brother. I'm sorry to hear that he disappeared."

"He disappeared shortly after his 12th birthday and receiving his first rune. There was something that happened during the rune ceremony, but I don't remember what it was. Jace and I have talked about it, and he doesn't remember it either. I know there is more to his disappearance, but I don't know what it is. My parents have stopped looking for him, but Jace and I haven't given up. With everything that we have going on, we just don't have the time to look into this more. I know you are asking questions, just be careful and remember why you are here."

"I will be. I think there may be a connection between your brother's disappearance and the corridor that isn't being used. I'll keep looking, I was wondering if I could have access to the institutes records to see if there is a warlock who has had access to the institute on a regular basis besides Catarina or Tessa."

"Of course. I'll look at it and get it to you later today. Be careful, there has to be a reason as to why you are seeing things and making connections that Jace and I haven't made. This afternoon after we are done with inventory you should be able to access all the records in the library. This will take you away from prying eyes and anyone who may report back to whomever had anything to do with Alec's disappearance."

"Thank you, Izzy. I hope that I can find answers for you and Jace. I'll be careful."

"Thank you, Magnus. You're the first person outside of the institute to take an interest in this. I hope that you can find the answers."

Magnus and Izzy focused on their counting and making notes on what weapons the institute needed. Izzy knew she was going to have to contact the Iron Sisters to see about getting more seraph blades, but it could wait for a day or two. Magnus didn't think that getting information about Alec Lightwood would be easy, but he had a feeling after talking to Izzy that there was more going on then they had been told. He hoped that the answers would present themselves in the institutes' records. He figured he would have to go back to the time Alec disappeared and work forward from there. He knew that he was looking for a warlock who had regular access to the institute and could perform a complex memory spell. He was glad that at least he had a starting point for his search even if it wasn't much to go on.

He entered the training room and immediately spotted Simon in their working through everything that he had been taught. He had gone over blocking, punches, kicks, and different combinations. He had also started working with Simon on sparring with weapons. The boy was a fast learner and took quickly to what he was being shown. He could tell that Simon was practicing in his spare time, but he wondered where Simon went when he wasn't with him. He quickly walked further into the training room and started warming up. Today would be a sparring session and they would be working on their hand to hand combat. He wanted to see how Simon would fare in a hand to hand session. They hadn't done one yet, but it was time.

He saw Simon look up from his warm-up and smile at him. He continued to go through what he needed to do to get ready to spar. He had missed sparring and was looking forward to working with Simon and to see how he did.

"Ok, I think we are ready to get started. We are going to start with sparring today. I know this is the first time that you will going against someone real, but just remember you know all you need to know in order to fight me. Don't second guess yourself, just trust your body it will know what to do," he explained moving to the center of the room.

"I didn't think I was ready to start sparring with you. I know that whole purpose of you training me is to see if I can beat you, but I thought we still had a few more days before we started sparring each other," Simon said turning to face his teacher.

The two began sparring and he paid attention to what Simon was doing. He corrected Simon when he noticed his posture slip and when he second guessed himself. He wanted to make sure that Simon had the best chance to beat him when they sparred in a few weeks. He knew that the guards were watching and making sure that he didn't do anything to give Simon an obvious heads up on what his strategy was. He had gone through every possible combination that he could with Simon and was impressed with how well the boy had done. They continued to spar until the guard entered further into the room indicating that they were done for the day.

He watched as Simon left the training room. He knew the boy was practicing outside of their sessions together and he was impressed with the progress that he had made in the last couple of weeks. He knew he couldn't hope that this would be his only way out, and thus he kept planning his escape and knew that the only hope would be if he could get a stele but there didn't seem to be a way. He would keep trying to figure out a way to escape just in case Simon didn't manage to beat him. He didn't know that there was already someone out there looking for him and looking for answers to his disappearance. The answers would come soon enough.